Test Valley Borough Council in partnership with The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) have invested £37,000 to revamp Vigo Recreation Ground and Romsey War Memorial Park Tennis Courts.
This will help ensure that high quality facilities are available for free in the local community as well as introducing an easy-to-use online booking process. The funding was awarded by the UK Government as part of a nationwide campaign to revamp public tennis courts and open up the sport to more people.
Vigo Recreation Ground Tennis courts has installed new fencing and an access gate system and the courts are due to be cleaned and repainted in the coming weeks. Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) has also invested in new posts at the site and replaced one of the nets on one of the courts, to provide a high standard facility that is free to use by the public. The courts can be accessed by using the new online booking system where you can book an hour slot.
The War Memorial Park in Romsey has had gate access and a booking system installed, the courts are still free to use, the new booking system enables users to plan when they would like to play and book a timed slot for their free use of the courts.
Leisure Portfolio Holder Councillor Terese Swain said: “It is great to work in partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association and be able to provide high quality public tennis court facilities to be enjoyed by the local community for free. It gives us the opportunity to encourage more people to get active and enjoy playing a game of tennis in both Romsey and Andover.”
TVBC Picket Piece and Picket Twenty will also have new booking systems set up as part of this project later this year. TVBC also have future plans to make the courts more accessible at the Vigo Recreation Ground tennis courts.
Alongside the investment, TVBC are working with the LTA, Andover Lawn Tennis Club and Romsey and Abbey Tennis Club to deliver a series of free tennis lessons on the revamped courts, with racquets and balls supplied. The free coaching sessions for adults and juniors at War Memorial Park, Romsey are on a Saturday morning, from 8 June to 13 July. Vigo Recreation Ground will also be offering free coaching sessions starting on 6 June for adults and 27 July for juniors.
The courts online booking system will be available for players aged 13 plus and can be found via the Test Valley Parks Tennis Website Test Valley Parks Tennis / Home (lta.org.uk). This will make it far easier to find and book a tennis court or activity on the courts across Test Valley.
The project is part of a nationwide investment by the UK Government and LTA Tennis Foundation, delivered by the LTA, to refurbish public tennis courts across Great Britain. This investment will see thousands of existing park tennis courts in poor or unplayable condition brought back to life for the benefit of communities across the country through renovation works, and improved court accessibility with new gate-access technology and booking systems.
